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Persépolis of Marjane Satrapi : From a Graphic Novel to an Animation Film Young-Soon Ahn (Soonchunhyang University) “Persépolis” is a 2007 French animated film based on Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel of the same name. The film was written and directed by Satrapi with Vincent Paronnaud. The story follows a young girl as she comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution. The story ends with Marjane as a 24-year-old expatriate. The title is a reference to the historic city of Persepolis. “Persépolis” follows the story of young Marjane Satrapi, the only daughter of an educated Teheran couple who travels through an epic journey of political struggle, Western idealization, religious fanaticism, teenage angst, alienation and depression, and ultimately self-discovery. This animation film is a very true and affectionate adaption of the original comic also drawn by Satrapi who directed the film. The purpose of this article is to study the aspects of adaptation from a graphic novel to an animation film: the transformation of dramatic structure and the mise-en-scène techniques that the directors use to express the process of overcoming Marjane's state of the Otherness. The story is done in flashbacks and most of the animation is in black and white except at the beginning and the end of the film when the narrator is speaking in the present. By reconstituting the narrative structure of the original, the film is split rigidly into three acts and there are certain problems with its structure. Divided in three acts, the film follows Marjane Satrapi as she navigates through an oppressive environment, in both Iran and Austria, while on the lookout for her identity and self worth. Marjane's struggle for establishing her own subjectivity and identity is the film's driving force. And using various mise-en-scène techniques, the directors succeed in describing exquisitely Marjane's inner state of mind as the Other or a marginal man. To contrast the film and its graphic novel roots is made redundant by its production, as it's making a conscious effort to steer clear from recreating the panels as is. Film is more cinematic in approach and fully takes advantage of its use of music and color. As opposed to the novel's more linear story telling, “Persépolis” follows a mainly flashback- driven narrative which further emphasizes main protagonist's faint sense of nostalgia. Music is also used to much effect, as sequences involving popular music will be marked as a highlight, clearly in absentia from the novel. The overall effect is interesting: both mediums become more complementary rather than a substitute.